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Current Scenario of Solar Energy Production in Bangladesh and Future Potentiality
Debesh Biswas Mridul, Abul Kalam Azad, Mithun Kumar Biswas, Anupa Datta, Khan Mohammad Ridwan Ul Risty
Abstract— As a developing country, Bangladesh is undergoing a huge expansion in industrial and commercial infrastructures which is
resulting in the acceleration of energy demand exponentially and it will continue in the same trend in the coming future. These growing
demands have necessitated the approaches to generate energy from the sustainable resources, not only to meet the energy requirements
but also to reduce GWP (Global Warming Potential), decrease CO2 emissions, and ensure cost effectiveness in the long run. Among all the
sustainable resources, solar energy has attracted significant attention. Innumerable researches and developments on solar energy
technologies from all over the world are making this more available and affordable. Bangladesh has taken several initiatives to achieve the
SDG (Sustainable development Goals), designed by the United Nations. The purpose is to protect the planet and ensure a sustainable
future which is propelling to enhance the solar energy productions. This study will help to understand Bangladesh's present conditions of
producing solar energy and its huge potentiality in the future, because this is a well-grounded way of generating power and getting rid of
polluting & detrimental non-renewable energy resources.
Key Words— Bangladesh, Clean Energy, Concentrated Solar Power, Renewable Energy, Photovoltaic, CSP, Solar Power, Sustainable
Development Goal.
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1 INTRODUCTION
TILIZATION of energy is a measure of a country's wealth and standard of living (Esen & Bayrak, 2017). Bangladesh is a developing country and the economy is
highly depending on the manufacturing industries (Raihan, Lemma, Khondker, & Ferdous, 2017) (Ministry of Finance, Bangladesh, 2017). Also according to the World Bank, Bangla-desh has had a remarkable growth in agriculture which helped in poverty reduction in Bangladesh since 2000 (World Bank, 2016). So the accumulated demand for energy is rapidly increasing as a result of agricultural, technological and indus-trial growth. Bangladesh will experience an acute energy crisis in the near future (Liza, Akhter, Shahibuzzaman, & Islam, 2020), current energy supplies are unlikely to fulfill power needs. But, on the other hand, energy generation from fossil fuels, i.e. Coal, Furnace Oil, Petroleum, Natural Gas etc. are not the right choices due to their scarcity, unstable interna-tional markets, and negative environmental and health im-pacts (Krautkraemer, 1998) (Kotcher, Maibach, & Choi, 2019) (Chmielewski, 1999). As a result, the government is being forced to consider seriously the development of indigenous alternative and renewable energy sources. Moreover, to achieve the goal of sustainable development, Environmental friendly renewable energy sources must be created and popu-larized. Clean environment, energy independence, new em-ployment opportunities, and improved living conditions in
rural areas resulting in a reduction in mass migration to urban areas are all additional incentives for the promotion of such energy technologies, especially in developing countries like Bangladesh (Mirza, Maroto-Valer, & Ahmad, 2003). According to the SDG7, Bangladesh has already adopted several measures to achieve yielding clean energy, and in 2020 the stake was 3.49% in the total energy consumption (SDG Tracker, Bangladesh, 2020) (Katekar, Deshmukh, & Elsheikh, 2020). There are many means of clean energy; Solar Energy, Wind Energy, Hydro Energy, Nuclear Energy etc. are the main sources of producing clean energy. Among them Solar energy has a huge theoretical potentiality (Demirtas, 2013). Several studies have shown that it is possible to fulfil the global ener-gy demand by using solar energy as it is possible to avail freely from nature with almost no cost (Kannan & Vakeesan, 2016). As a country in the semi-tropical region, Bangladesh has an opportunity of having abundant sunlight all the year round which can be converted into electricity (Deb, Bhuiyan, & Nasir, 2013). The current scenario and future potentiality of using solar energy in Bangladesh are summarized in this paper. 2 GEOGRAPHIC PROFILE OF BANGLADESH It is important to understand the geographical position of Bangladesh. Bangladesh's latitude ranges from 20'34N to 26'38N, and its longitude ranges from 88'01E to 92'41E. Bang-ladesh has a total area of 147,570 square kilometers. It is bor-dered on the West, North and East by the Indian states of West Bengal, Assam, Meghalaya and Tripura. Myanmar is the east-ern border's southernmost point. The Bay of Bengal has formed the southern border of the region. Fig. 1 depicts the country map. The land border extends for about 4,246 kilome-ters, 93.9 percent of which is shared with India and 6.1 percent with Myanmar. The coastline stretches more than 580 kilome-
U
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Debesh Biswas Mridul is currently pursuing Bachelor degree program in electrical engineering in Faridpur Engineering College, University of Dhaka. E-mail: [email protected]
Abul Kalam Azad is former research student, University of Manchester, UK. E-mail: [email protected]
Mithun Kumar Biswas is former research student, Bangladesh University of Textiles. E-mail: [email protected]
Anupa Datta is former research student, University of Dhaka. E-mail: [email protected]
Khan Mohammad Ridwan Ul Risty is former research student, Bangladesh University of Textiles. E-mail: [email protected]
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ters. Bangladesh is divided into seven divisions, which are the main administrative units; Barisal, Chittagong, Dhaka, Khulna, Rajshahi, Sylhet, and Rangpur. Hillocks and hills are restricted to a narrow strip along the southern spur of the Shillong Plat-eau, the eastern and southern parts of Sylhet district and the Chittagong Hill Tracts in the southeast of the country, which border the Indian states of Tripura and Mizoram as well as Myanmar. Most of the areas of Bangladesh are flat (Chow-dhury, 2016). In the Dry season the average sunshine duration is about 7.6 hours a day, and is about 4.7 hours a day in the monsoon season (Deb, Bhuiyan, & Nasir, 2013). Also due to global warming the Heat Index (HI) has risen tremendously (Rajib, Mortuza, Selmi, Ankur, & Rahman, 2011) which is iron-ic but makes it possible to yield more solar energy.
Fig. 1. Map of Bangladesh (Courtesy of Banglapedia)
3 THE CURRENT SCENARIO OF ENERGY GENERATION A country's prosperity is determined by the growth of its en-ergy generation capacity (Ahuja & Tatsutani, 2009). Currently, mostly fuel based electricity is being generated in Bangladesh (Uddin, et al., 2018). Natural gas meets nearly 63% of total energy demand. On the other hand, fuels such as oil, coal, and biomass are also meeting demands. The issue is that coal is not being import it from countries like Indonesia, South Africa and India (EIN Presswire, 2020). Natural gas reserves are not in adequate volume, but still it is the biggest resource to gen-erate electricity. With the current consumption rate, it is fore-casted that Bangladesh will run out of gas reserves within next 10-12 years (Shetol, Rahman, Sarder, Hossain, & Riday, 2019). In addition to this, Petroleum oil, LPG (Liquid Petroleum gas)
and LNG (Liquefied Natural Gas) are also used to meet ener-gy demand but Bangladesh is completely depending on im-porting those from other countries (Rahman & Mohanty, 2021). Furthermore, the demand for energy is met by importing elec-tricity from India (The Daily Star, 2019). The largest portion of energy is generated by using biomass. Natural gas accounts for about 63% of commercial electricity (with 7% imported LNG) (Unit, 2020). Imported oil accounts for the lion's share of the remainder. Bangladesh has imported about 8.6 million metric tons of crude and refined petroleum products in 2018-19. Coals, in addition with natural gas and crude oil, are main-ly used as a fuel in the brick factories and thermal power plants. The total amount of energy consumed is estimated to be around 55 MTOE (mega tons of oil equivalent) (Unit, 2020). Table 1 shows the breakdown of the total consumption in 2018-19. According to the Ministry of Power, Mineral and re-sources' report, published in 2020, the energy consumption is increasing approximately 6% every year on average. Per capita energy consumption of Bangladesh is 344 kgoe (Kilogram Oil Equivalent) and considering 95% access to electricity, energy generation per capita is 510 kWh and this is much lower than the other South Asian countries (Unit, 2020).
Item Mtoe
Oil (Crude + Refined ) in K ton 8.65
LPG in K ton 0.7
Natural Gas in BCF (Billion Cubic Feet) 22.37
LNG in BCF (Billion Cubic Feet) 2.69
Coal (Imported) in K ton 3.64
Coal (Local) in K ton 0.51
RE (Hydro) in MW 0.17
RE (Solar) in MW 0.27
Electricity (Imported) in MW 0.86
Total Commercial Energy 39.85
Biomass 14.75
Total Primary Energy 54.6
Table 1. Consumed Energy Calculation for 2018-2019. (Unit, 2020)
From Table 1, it is clearly understandable that how much Bangladesh is dependent on the non-renewable resources. Around 15 Mtoe energy came from the biomass incineration which was 27% of total energy. And Bangladesh imported 30.30% from outside sources. Only 0.8% was gener-ated from the sustainable sources. Apart from Solar & Hydro power Bangladesh has installed some other sources too but the stake is almost negligible (Figure 2). Two nuclear power plants are under construction in Rooppur, Pabna which will start producing 1200 MW from 2023 in first phase and another 1200 MW from 2024 (Unit, 2020).
4 THE SOLAR OPTION
Obviously, the sun is the ultimate source of energy. Solar en-ergy is available everywhere in the planet. Now-a-days, Elec-tricity is generated mainly by using coal, natural gas, oil, nu-clear, wind, and hydro power. Solar is superior to fossil fuels
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for a variety of reasons. There are two major technologies of harnessing solar energy and they are as follows:
Figure 2: Renewable energy sources of Bangladesh (SREDA, 2020).
(i) Photovoltaic (PV): In this system, solar panels are used, either on rooftops or in ground mounted solar farms, to con-vert the sunlight directly into electric power. (ii) Concentrated Solar Power (CSP): It is also known as Con-centrated Solar Thermal. In this system solar thermal energy is used to make steam, which is then converted into mechanical power to rotate a turbine for producing electricity (Solar Pac-es, 2018). Photovoltaic (PV) does not emit carbon dioxide directly dur-ing the energy production and thus does not warm the planet or contribute to climate change (Azarpour, Suhaimi, Zahedi, & Bahadori, 2012). The cost of solar has dropped by 60% in the last few years and it is less expensive than fossil fuels. It is estimated that Solar power costs only 0.10 USD per kWh, and is decreasing remarkably due to the technological advance-ments (Calderone, 2020) (Evans, 2020). Sunlight can be found almost everywhere in the planet. It is not toxic and does not generate waste. Solar energy does not necessitate massive land destruction or the time-consuming and costly construction of a dam. Solar energy, like any other energy source, has ad-vantages and disadvantages (Lakatos, Hevessy, & Kovács, 2011). However, solar, with its clean abundance, decreasing costs, and zero emissions, outperforms all other energy sources currently on the market. So perhaps solar is the best option. (Gaines, n.d.)
5 SOLAR ENERGY POTENTIALS IN BANGLADESH
Bangladesh is one of those countries where the sun heats the surface all the year round and hence has a large solar power capacity. Bangladesh receives 4–6.5 kWh/m2 of solar radiation per day, which can produce approximately 1018×1018 J of en-ergy (Halder, Paul, Joardder, & Sarker, 2015). Furthermore, the
country's recent primary energy consumption of 26.7 Mtoe is equivalent to 1.12×1018 J, which accounts for only 0.11% of total solar radiation. In Bangladesh, the solar home system is a more appealing and effective solar technology. It has been revealed that using solar energy for rural and off-grid electrifi-cation through solar PV and home systems is more effective. Total installed capacity of SHS has reached 150MW in the year 2013–2014 with 185.185% increase over the previous year. However, the country has almost 234MW electricity genera-tion potential from SHSs. Solar concentrating power is another efficient technology for harnessing solar energy. Grid connect-ed solar PV or mini-grid concept would bring a new dimen-sion in the sector of solar energy utilization. Bangladesh has a potentiality of 50,174 MW grid connected solar PV (Halder, Paul, Joardder, & Sarker, 2015). Fig.3. Global horizontal irradiation map of Bangladesh (courtesy of the World
Bank Group, http://globalsolaratlas.info)
Study shows that Grid connected Solar PV or Mini-Grid no-tion can bring a novel extent in solar energy utilization in Bangladesh. As a single source, it can produce 50,174 MW electricity. CSP and SHS have comparatively small but signifi-cant potentials too.
Technology Potential Power
Concentrated solar power (CSP) 100 MW
Grid-connected solar PV 50,174 MW
Solar home system (SHS) 234 MW
Table 2. Solar energy potential in Bangladesh (Halder, Paul, Joardder, & Sarker,
2015)
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6 CURRENT SOLAR ENERGY APPLICATIONS IN
BANGLADESH
There are two ways to use solar energy. The first is photovol-taic, while the second is solar thermal power. Photovoltaic technology is currently the most popular in Bangladesh. Bang-ladesh has one of the most extensive domestic solar energy programs in the world. The World Bank and other develop-ment organizations, as well as the private sectors, are collabo-rating with the government to bring affordable, solar-powered electricity to the areas where the traditional grid is inaccessible. Small-scale solar home systems now power over 4 million households and approximately 20 million people in rural are-as, accounting for roughly one-eighth of the country's popula-tion (Hutt, 2020). Solar energy is the most widely dispersed form of energy. Every single unit household, as well as every commercial or industrial consumer, can use solar energy to generate electricity. Table 3 shows SREDA's road map for the development of the solar energy sectors from the Year 2017 to 2020 (SREDA, 2020).
Program 2017 2020
Solar park 3MW 700MW
Solar home system 205MW 252MW
Solar mini-grid/micro-grid/nano-grid
2.69MW 7MW
Solar irrigation 14MW 46MW
Rooftop solar program-net metering
0MW 600MW
Rooftop solar program-others (including new con-nection)
30MW 50MW
Solar drinking water system 1.6MW 6MW
Solar power telecoms tower 8MW 15MW
Solar street light 2.3MW 5MW
Total 266.59MW 1681MW
Table 3. Solar Energy Sectors of the Year 2020.
Since 2016, floating solar panels on water bodies have seen
rapid growth in various countries due to benefits such as
higher efficiency and land savings. Bangladesh has an
estimated 150,000 hectares of ponds. Solar panels covering up
to a third of each pond can give a total power generation of
15,000MW. Bangladesh has a large number of shallow water
bodies such as bills, haors, and baors. The government has
taken steps to establish sanctuaries for native fish and other
aquatic animals. If 10% of their land can be declared a
sanctuary, that portion can be effectively leased out for a
25,000MW floating solar system. (Alam, 2020) Though
photovoltaic (PV) is widely used in Bangladesh, there is a
significant opportunity in concentrated solar power (CSP)
technology. CSP has already been included in the Bangladesh
Government's Renewable Energy Policy 2009. Soon it will be
cheaper than PV, it would be a better choice to deploy CSP
plants for harnessing solar energy on a large scale in order to
mitigate Bangladesh's current and future power crisis (Noor &
Muneer, 2010). According to SREDA, 36 projects with a total
capacity of 2110.56 MW are currently under construction in
Bangladesh, among them the largest one is the 50 MW solar
plant located at Gauripur in Mymensingh district. Also two
large solar projects with a combined capacity of 200 MW are
under construction in Bangladesh: Sundarganj in Gaibandha
district and Teknaf upazila in Cox’s Bazar district.
7 RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT (R&D) ACTIVITIES
AND INSTITUTIONAL INFRASTRUCTURE
Many institutes, universities, and academic organizations (both public and private) are conducting research and devel-opment (R&D) activities on different field of renewable energy technologies. Various organizations and their areas of concern in relation to RET R&D. The following table lists the public bodies that are entirely or partially involved in research in the field of solar energy technologies in Bangladesh and their ap-plications. (Islam, Islam, & Rahman, 2005)
Technology Related organ-ization
Remarks
Solar photovol-taic balance of systems
Garmeen Shak-ti, CMES, IFRD
All other device com-ponents (such as the charge controller, cable, inverter, and converter) are manufactured local-ly.
Solar water heaters
RERC, Dhaka University, IFRD, CMES
Manufacturing is possi-ble with a nearby de-sign and fabrication plant.
Solar wood seasoning plant
BFRI For seasoning timber using solar radiation, a simple, inexpensive, and effective solar kiln has been created. The kiln can be built quickly and easily using locally available materials. In the solar kiln, timbers of various species and di-mensions can be sea-soned all the year round.
Solar dryer IFRD, BRRI, BAU
Different types have been created and tested by using materials that are readily available in that region.
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Solar cooker-parabolic and Solar cooker-box type
IFRD, ANAN-DO, CMES
IFRD has successfully field-tested its concept, which can easily boil water in a sunny day. Solar cookers of this kind are now available at IFRD for Tk. 450.00 (US$ 9.00). ANANDO also uses imported ma-terials and designs in the production and marketing of its goods. The construction of the IFRD is made from lo-cally sourced raw mate-rials. The cost of mak-ing such a cooker is ap-proximately Tk. 800 (US$ 16.00), except the cost of utensils. The cookers are now availa-ble for purchase at IFRD.
Solar passive architecture
BCSIR On the BCSIR campus, a solar house was planned and construct-ed with the aim of keep-ing the house warm in the winter and cool in the summer.
Table 4. Solar energy technologies in Bangladesh
*CMES- Center for Mass Education in Science,
*IFRD- Institute of Fuel Research Development,
*RERC- Renewable Energy Research Center,
*BFRI- Bangladesh Forest research Institute,
*BRRI- Bangladesh Rice Research Institute,
*BAU- Bangladesh Agricultural University,
*BCSIR- Bangladesh Council of Scientific and Industrial Re-
search. Some government agencies and non-governmental organiza-tions (NGOs) have already made many attempts to grow the Renewable Energy sector as a whole, which is outlined in the following paragraphs.
8 GOVERNMENT ORGANIZATIONS
8.1 BPDB’s solar electrification project in Chittagong hill tracts:
BPDB (Bangladesh Power Development Board) has completed a Research Project for Solar PV in the Chittagong Hill Tracts Area and is effectively working on a Solar Photovoltaic Project in another three upazilas in the Chittagong Hill Tracts region in order to build various solar photovoltaic applications such as solar home systems, water pumps, vaccine refrigerators, street lamps, and including a centralize power station. The Trustee Management Committee, comprised of local residents, will be in charge of overall scheme oversight and bill collec-tion. (Islam, Islam, & Rahman, 2005)
8.2 REB’s solar project:
In 1997, the Rural Electrification Board (REB) completed the first semi-commercial 62 kW Solar Photovoltaic Project. 6000 consumers were electrified by solar home systems during the project's second phase (1999–2004). (Rural Electrification Board web site, n.d.)
8.3 IFRD’s project:
Bangladesh Council of Scientific and Industrial Research's In-stitute of Fuel Research Development (IFRD) (BCSIR). The project's goal is to collect data and information in order to in-vestigate the feasibility of natural solar, wind, and micro-hydro power applications in Bangladesh. (Islam, Islam, & Rahman, 2005)
9 PRIVATE SECTORS & NON-GOVERNMENTAL
ORGANIZATIONS (NGO)
9.1 Grameen Shakti’s projects in rural areas:
Grameen Shakti was founded in 1996 with the goal of devel-oping and popularizing renewable energy resources. It has received worldwide acclaim for its innovative use of ‘micro-credit' to deliver solar home systems in rural areas. Grameen Shakti plans to install 20 small battery charging stations, 20 computer training centers, and 20 multi-service centers pow-ered by solar energy over the next two years. Grameen Shakti has received loans and grants from a variety of bilateral and multilateral development partners, including the GEF (Global Environment Facility), IFC (International Finance Corpora-tion), USAID (United States Agency for International Devel-opment), SIDA (Swedish International Development Coopera-tion Agency), and others. (Islam, Islam, & Rahman, 2005)
9.2 Centre for Mass Education in Science (CMES)’s Program:
CMES has started solar energy-related activities in remote are-as of the country. It has conducted research and development on solar cookers, solar water heaters, solar dryers, solar home systems, and so on. It has recently established its ‘Solar Lab' to conduct adaptive research on solar PV system accessories such as tube light ballasts, charge controllers, inverters, income-generating appliances such as sewing machines, drilling ma-chines, and so on. (Islam, Islam, & Rahman, 2005)
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9.3 Bangladesh Rural Advancement Committee (BRAC)’s Program:
It is the largest Bangladeshi non-government organization, and it has started its solar energy program from 1997. More than 500 solar PV systems and 260 Hot Box cookers have been installed as part of the program. It has two grid-interactive PV systems installed. (Islam, Islam, & Rahman, 2005)
10 GOVERNMENT POLICIES AND FISCAL INCENTIVES
Since 2008, Bangladesh government has taken several policies to familiarize the solar energy generation which are already in action. An institution has been created, SEDA (Sustainable En-ergy Development Agency), which is working as a company and is responsible for providing coordination of sustainable ener-gy planning, including action plans linking with the activities of several agencies and organizations. It also promotes aware-ness of solar energy technologies. It is also creating market opportunities and support new business models. Apart from these, government exempted charging 15% VAT on Solar en-ergy equipment and established a micro-credit system to pro-vide financial supports for purchasing these equipment. SEDA is in charge of considering and providing subsidies for instal-lation of solar energy projects. Power Division of MPEMR (Ministry of Power, Energy and Mineral Resources) and SEDA, in consultation with BERC (Bangladesh Energy Regulatory Commis-sion), have created necessary regulatory framework to encour-age generation of electricity from renewable energy sources like solar power. (BERC, 2008).
11 ACADEMIC INSTITUTIONS
Several Universities in Bangladesh have been working in the field of solar energy in recent years. For example, United In-ternational University's Center for Energy Research has been a leading renewable research and consultancy center in Bangla-desh. BRAC University is working with a developing country on a financial and performance analysis of a micro controller- based solar-powered auto rickshaw. Bangladesh University of Engineering and Technology has a solar lab that conducts re-search activities which are a mix of basic and applied research, as well as the development of renewable energy research in Bangladesh. The Institute of Energy, University of Dhaka is also working on it. Some other universities, such as AIUB and the University of Rajshahi, are also working on solar energy technology. (BRAC University, n.d.) (Bangladesh University of Engineering & Technology, n.d.) (University of Rajshahi, n.d.) (Independent University, Bangladesh, n.d.) (University of Dhaka, n.d.)
12 CONCLUSION
According to the findings of the above study, solar energy contributes significantly to our energy generation. Through
solar thermal and solar photovoltaic (PV) routes, solar energy can be utilized. Solar power is more environmentally friendly compared to the non-renewable sources such as fossil fuels. Solar energy utilization in Canada, Germany, Spain, Australia, China, and France are some of the successful projects. The ex-istence of solar energy policies in these countries resulted in a significant increase in solar power generation. In our country, first and foremost, social awareness should be raised through media awareness programs such as talk shows and seminars. Training programs led by experts from countries well known for their achievements in the solar energy sector can be orga-nized. Many countries, including Denmark, Spain, and Ger-many, have already declared national policies requiring re-newable energy to meet at least 20% of national demand, in accordance Bangladesh has also devised a strategy to meet 5% of the country's energy needs from renewable sources. But apart from these, the Bangladesh government should establish large-scale solar energy manufacturing hubs so that the stake of solar power in the national grid can be increased signifi-cantly. Dedicated solar power hubs can be installed for the economic zones rather than include this manufactured elec-tricity in the national grid. Government should encourage heavy industries to install solar panels in their manufacturing plants to decrease the dependency on fossil fuel generated energy. Along with increasing funding to the local researches, the government should also monitor the international research and developments to have immediate access to the more af-fordable and powerful versions of manufacturing solar energy. So considering the geographical advantages and the necessity of faster transitions, actions taken by Bangladesh are admira-ble, but more should be done to meet the growing demand for electricity to support ambitious social and economic growth.
AUTHOR CONTRIBUTION
DBM and MKB conceived the presented idea and collected data. DBM, MKB and AKA did the literature review. DBM, MKB, AKA, AD and KMR wrote the manuscript.
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